One common type of imaging device is a pulse-echo imaging device in which the imaging device includes multiple transducers that transmit pulses towards a target to be imaged, and that then receive echoes, which are reflected back to the transducers from the target. By analyzing these echoes, the device can then create an image of the device that reflected the pulses. Two examples of pulse-echo imaging systems are ultrasound imaging devices and radar imaging devices.
As technology advances, however, the number and complexity of the transducers that are used in such imaging devices has risen. This increase in the number and complexity of transducers has lead to challenges in effectively transmitting the data within the imaging device, from one element to another.
For example, modern ultrasound probes can employ tens of transducers for improved focusing. A typical phased-array ultrasound probe has 64-256 transducers each operating at a sampling frequency of 25-60 MHz and with a typical sampling resolution of 12 bits. As a result, the data throughput from the transducers to a receiver beamformer in a digital front end is in the order of tens of Gigabits per second. This high throughput complicates the input/output interface of the digital front end of the ultrasound receiver by raising the threat of signal interference and loss along a transmission line leading from an analog front end to a digital front end in the ultrasound unit. Similar complications would be expected in other pulse-echo imaging devices, such as radar imaging devices.
Furthermore, in some devices, operating parameters may change periodically such that the data rate will also change. For example, the number of transducers used might be reduced, the sampling frequency could be altered, the sampling resolution adjusted, etc. Because of this, the danger of signal interference or loss may change during device operation, and therefore the need for accommodating such potential interference and loss will likewise change.
It would therefore be desirable to provide an imaging device and method in which imaging data is compressed prior to being transmitted across a lengthy cable, and is then decompressed once transmission is complete. It is further desirable to provide a compression/decompression scheme that can be adjusted at need throughout the operation of the imaging device.